WASHINGTON — The definition of student proficiency in math and reading varies widely from state to state, and Hawai'i is one of the more demanding states, a new report shows.

Students in Missouri, South Carolina and Massachusetts generally have the highest hill to climb to show they've mastered those subjects. Those in Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee have a significantly lower hurdle, according to the study released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report also shows that few states meet the national standard for proficiency.

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said parents can use the report to see how their state compares with others.

But she cautioned that the study can't be used to determine whether a state's standards are too weak. And she said it shouldn't be used to promote national standards requiring all states to teach the same material at the same time and to give the same test.

"For us to dictate one level of rigor would be very imprudent," she told reporters.

SCORING STATES

The report looked at fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math tests in 2005 for more than 30 states and assigned each state a score. The scores — between 0 and 500 — are based on comparisons between what a state demanded of students to qualify as proficient and what the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test demanded.

States with a higher score set a tougher standard for proficiency.

Fourth-graders who took the 2005 NAEP reading test, for example, had to score at least a 238 to be considered proficient. But each state in the new study defined proficiency at a lower level, ranging from 234 in Massachusetts to 161 in Mississippi. Hawai'i students had to score 205 — 11th highest out of 32 states surveyed.

For math, fourth-graders had to score 249 on the NAEP test. Score equivalents ranged from a high of 278 in Wyoming to a low of 217 in North Carolina. Hawai'i's requirement was 247— the third toughest score out of 33 states counted.

Eighth-graders who took the 2005 NAEP math test had to score a 299 to be considered proficient. Only three states — Missouri (311), South Carolina (305) and Massachusetts (301) — demanded a higher standard from students than did NAEP, according to the analysis. Hawai'i required a score of 296 — fourth highest out of 36 states surveyed.

There were 34 states in the grade 8 reading analysis. Hawai'i had the sixth toughest requirement at 262; the NAEP requirement was 281.

"This report shows we need to give states incentives to increase rigor," said Ross Wiener, vice president for program and policy at the Education Trust, a Washington think tank. "Given the increasing skill level demands, we need more states to move toward Massachusettslevel standards."

Testing has become a crucial tool in determining whether states are making academic progress. Under the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, all states must test students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school with the requirement that every student be proficient by 2014.

But the law allows states to set their own standards, develop their own tests and decide what test score constitutes proficiency. So proficiency can vary widely, as yesterday's report concludes.

Some states and independent experts say it's not valid to compare scores on the federal and state tests.

The national exam, they say, was never designed to compare standards from state to state and is administered only to a sample of students.

STATE TESTS ARE KEY

Teachers and students are far more focused on the state tests because they determine whether schools make adequate progress and in some cases whether seniors receive a diploma.

Missouri's standards are so high the state will have a tough time bringing all students up to 100 percent proficiency, said Stan Johnson, assistant commissioner for the Missouri Department of Education. But there are no plans to water them down, he said.

"We've known for several years that the definition of proficiency in Missouri is set to a pretty high standard, and that was by design," he said.

Hank Bounds, Mississippi's superintendent of education, said the state already is moving toward tougher standards. Officials there are developing a much more rigorous curriculum and plan to improve tests.

"In Mississippi, we recognized that there was a discrepancy between what students were expected to know on our state tests and what students were expected to know on NAEP," he wrote in an e-mail responding to a reporter's questions. "We know that students in Mississippi are as capable as students in any state in this country. We must set high expectations and our students will rise to the challenge."

Gannett News Service contributed to this report.